Bon Appetit is my hero this week

February 20th: Bon Appetit.....you do it again!!!

I get home from my long and tedious in-service day at my school and do a bunch of things around the house. By the time I'm done I'm worn out and in need of a simple meal that provides a little comfort.

That is when I look in my fridge at what I've got:
Some moldy white onion (toss), about 1/2 cup of heavy cream (again from my splurged on Valentine's Day meal for the hubby), a 1/3 of a chunk of cheddar cheese, some lettuce, and a TON of condiments. (I LOVE SAUCES!)

My brain starts mixing and matching and wondering what to do. No more go to chicken breasts in the fridge as a fall back...hmmm. This is when I remember a really basic easy mac and cheese recipe I saw in last month's Bon Appetit!

Now I don't have quite a whole cup of elbow macaroni but I do have small shells so I do just under one cup of the elbows and one of the shells. Mix and Match Mac I call it :) Not quite enough cheese as the recipe calls for so I cut back on some of the milk required. I also don't have the nice rich 3 cups of whole milk so I use 2 of the skim I have and then the 1/2 cup of whipping cream! Worked great. I always have flour and sticks of butter so my roux was not a problem! The sauce was super creamy. Couldn't even taste the few tiny flecks scrapped up from the bottom of my crappy pan!

Toss the noodles with the sauce, throw it in the oven at 350 for 25 min and mmm mmm mmmmmmm. So delicious. So far so good this week!

A few ingredients to keep in your fridge as often as possible:
-Butter. It will make everything taste good in a pinch.
-Sea salt. Buy the big one by Morton's. It's a good investment!

Recipe:
2 c. Skim milk
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. butter
2 c. grated cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp grated parmesan 
2 c. worth of any kind of pasta shells
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil water and toss in 1 3/4-2 c. of pasta shells. Cook fully. Meanwhile melt butter in a sauce pan and toss in 3 Tbsp of flour on med/high heat until flour is a light brown and the flour taste is cooked out approx 2 min. Then add in 2 c. skim milk with 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream and stir consistently while bringing to a simmer. Lower the heat and stir in 2 c. grated cheddar cheese or whatever block cheese you have and 3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese or whatever you have and whisk constantly until melted. Toss together cooked noodles and sauce. Pour into an oven proof baking dish, top with paprika and bake for 20-25 min until nice and bubbly!

(recipe adapted from Bon Appetit's February edition: southern mac and cheese)


Bon Appetit!!!